Canadian company Hydrostor has secured New South Wales (NSW) government approval to build a 200 MW / 1,600 MWh compressed air energy storage facility in a disused mine cavity near Broken Hill in western New South Wales.
The $652 million (USD 413. 4 million) Silver City Energy Storage Centre (SCESC) will utilise the company’s advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) technology that produces heated compressed air using excess electricity during periods of low-energy demand. The compressed air is sent down a shaft into a purpose-built underground cavern. When energy is required, compressed air is sent back up the shaft to drive a turbine, which generates electricity that can be used to stabilise the local grid, provide energy for Broken Hill, or be sold into the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Martin Becker, Hydrostor’s senior vice president of origination and development, said the state government’s planning approval is a critical step in the development of the project, which is set to begin construction later this year with the build phase expected to take three to four years.
“We are very pleased to be able to bring this project to the DA stage,” he said. “The approval marks a significant step along both Hydrostor’s journey in Australia and the adoption of long-duration technology nationally.”
Image: Hydrostor
Hydrostor said once built, the Silver City project will operate as a large energy storage asset, connected to the NSW grid and able to trade large quantities of energy on a daily basis.
It will also provide crucial long-duration energy storage capacity and stability to the Broken Hill region and the wider network.
The company has already signed an agreement to provide back-up power to the town with Transgrid, which owns the single 220 kV transmission line that connects Broken Hill to the national grid and is responsible for the back-up supplies when the line is out of service.
The deal requires Hydrostor to reserve up to 50 MW of capacity, representing up to 250 MWh of storage from the Silver City project to provide back-up power supply.
During planned or unplanned power outages, the facility will leverage generation from existing renewable energy sources in the region, including the 53 MW Broken Hill solar farm and the 200 MW Silverton wind farm. The new system will replace two diesel generators that currently provide back-up supplies.
“Crucially for the region, SCESC will support the community’s energy needs and protect against future blackouts by forming the backbone of a mini-grid, which when fully operative will be able to supply Broken Hill with power for days, if not weeks,” Hydrostor said in a statement.
“SCESC will draw from existing renewable energy infrastructure in the region, which currently sits idle during an outage, to form an independent energy solution capable of supplying the entire town without needing connection to the NEM.”
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the Silver City project will provide vital back-up energy for Broken Hill, providing residents and businesses with certainty and reliability.
“Energy storage solutions like this will go a long way to preventing blackouts like the ones the Far West experienced last year,” she said, noting the project will also provide a significant economic boost for the region.
It is anticipated the project will generate up to 400 full-time construction jobs and about 26 ongoing operational jobs while Hydrostor has estimated it will inject more than $240 million of expenditure in the Broken Hill community.
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